The Prisoner
by leiasky
Summary: Simon meets a mysterious man while he is imprisoned who turns out to be someone he didn't expect. SimonKaylee


**The Prisoner**

**- Day 1 -**

The day began like most others in the last four months since Miranda.

Tightening his arms around Kaylee, Simon muttered something about sloppy landings before opening his eyes and scowling at the closed shoji door. He knew his sister well enough by now to know that she'd jostled the ship on purpose to make sure those still abed would be more inclined to get up.

As usual, she'd brought Serenity in a few hours ahead of schedule. It constantly amazed the Captain, and more often than not annoyed Simon as he was usually still sleeping or engaged in other more pleasurable activities. Which, of course, was why River did most things.

He was required to go on this job today – to make sure the medical supplies and equipment they were transporting were the advertised stuff. Kaylee wasn't happy about it and neither was he, but as there hadn't been many wounds sustained on the ship in recent weeks, the Captain had insisted their resident _doctor_ earn his keep. Which, as Mal so sternly reminded Simon every chance he got, did not include cleaning Kaylee's plumbing on a regular basis.

He didn't remember much of that day except kissing Kaylee goodbye as he left on the job with Mal, Zoe and Jayne. Somewhere in the middle of a gunfight he could only imagine Jayne started, he was snatched from behind, a sharp jolt to the head, rendering him instantly unconscious.

He could feel himself falling; falling into darkness with no one there to catch him. To his horror, he found the descent to be never ending. Simon's heart raced and his hands clawed for purchase to slow his fall.

Only when he gasped loud enough to shake the unconsciousness from his mind, did the darkness recede from his dreams – only to be replaced with the all encompassing darkness of a waking nightmare.

Kaylee stood stoically in the galley as River piloted Serenity out of atmo, racing away from the planet as quickly as possible so that they would not share Simon's fate. She waited patiently for the rest of the crew to return, her face an emotionless mask as she watched the Captain sink gingerly into the chair at the head of the table.

Mal, Jayne and Zoe all sustained wounds from the day's job, but the biggest one that had hit the heart of Serenity could not be seen. Kaylee's face had remained impassive as she watched in forced silence – and waited for Mal to explain.

After one look at Kaylee, Mal averted his eyes, which angered the mechanic even further than his silence. River wasn't there yet, and she knew Mal would wait until his entire crew was together. But Kaylee couldn't wait any longer.

"You left 'im," she finally said, her eyes boring into the Captain's.

"Did what I had to do to save lives, Kaylee."

"An' end Simon's," Kaylee finished what Mal had left unsaid.

"There ain't no proof of that," Zoe answered from her place at Mal's side.

Inara reached out to take Kaylee's hand but the younger girl clenched her fingers into fists, barely controlling the anger that spread across her face.

"Not dead," River said as she walked quietly into the room and stood beside Kaylee. "Would know if he was dead. Would feel it." She placed a willowy hand over Kaylee's heart. "And so would you."

**- Day 2 -**

Simon awoke in a cell; dark and damp and cold. He trembled as he wrapped his arms around himself, trying desperately to rub some heat into his skin. He was bare to the waist. Left only with the cargo pants he'd donned that morning – or seemingly that morning as there was no concept of time in this dark place.

He pushed himself to a seated position with some difficulty, as his muscles, tense from the shock delivered to his system that knocked him unconscious, began to relax.

"I wouldn't scuffle about too much. They don't like a lot of movement."

Simon's head whirled around and his eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness. He'd heard the voice, but couldn't place the direction from which it had come.

"Where am I?" Simon asked, his voice rough from disuse.

"Hell."

Simon slumped against the wall, exhaling a deep breath and closing his eyes. "Back so soon?" he asked the shadows, "I thought it was only one visit per lifetime."

The man chuckled deeply at the newest prisoner's sarcasm. "You'd know if you'd been to hell and back, boy."

A familiarity tingled in the back of Simon's mind, but he dismissed it. "I think facing down a room full of Reavers and living to tell the tale constitutes as traveling to hell and back."

There was a tinge of awe in the invisible man's voice. "I see."

"Believe me, I wish I hadn't." Simon said as he pushed himself to his feet and stumbled around in the darkness, feeling the sides of the stone wall for any lever that would at least turn on some light, if not open a doorway to freedom.

"We'll get him back, Kaylee," Inara said as the girl sat rigid on Inara's bed. The Companion drew a brush through her unkept hair, trying to soothe the upset mechanic.

"Cap'n ain't made a move to go back yet."

"He will."

"You know that for sure?" Kaylee arched her neck, causing Inara to cease her brushing. She wanted to trust in her Captain. He'd never really let her down before. But her emotional attachment to Simon made trusting Mal's inaction thus far difficult.

"Mal doesn't leave –"

"Family," Kaylee finished, pursing her lips as more angry thoughts flew through her mind. "He ain't never thought of Simon an' River as family."

Inara allowed a small smile to grace her elegant features. "Yes he does. He's just never let anyone see it."

"I love him, 'Nara," Kaylee admitted, bowing her head and closing her eyes. "An' if he dies 'fore I get the chance to tell him –"

"Have faith, Kaylee," Inara set the brush down and embraced the distraught mechanic from behind. "Malcolm Reynolds doesn't give up that easily."

**- Day 3 -**

"Why are you here?" Simon asked, squinting in the direction he now knew the voice and body of his cell-mate to be.

"I committed a crime."

"Oh, is that all?" Simon's voice dripped sarcasm.

The man's deep voice rumbled as a chuckle escaped his lips. "I like you, boy. No doubt _they_ will not."

Simon ignored the familiar tone of the man's voice and instead latched onto something he'd said. "Who are _they_?"

Silence greeted his question.

"Alliance?"

"In some form or another, perhaps."

Simon wondered about that answer for a long time, until a stone door slid open and he was dragged out of the room, still under cover of darkness.

The man left behind only sighed.

Simon tried to look around the dark room as his wrists and ankles were bound. He was cold but the rough treatment heated his skin quicker than he thought possible and he welcomed it until the first, sharp lash struck his back.

A surprised gasp escaped his mouth but he clenched it tight as two more quick strokes brought the lash once again into contact with sensitive skin. Tears pricked his eyes but he clamped them shut until he felt the pad of a finger trace down the lithe muscles of his chest.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked and the finger stopped at the waistband of his pants.

He could barely make out the silhouette standing before him, dark as it was and he could not tell if the finger touching him belonged to a man or a woman. Only later, when his question was answered with a sharp punch to the gut, did Simon figure such a painful strike could be delivered by a man.

After untold minutes of voicing his questions and receiving nothing but violence in return, Simon closed his mouth, slumping against his bonds as he was struck again and again.

But his silence did not deter his captors.

Simon lost track of time amidst the sharp, intrusive pain. He tried to think of other things; his sister's smile, Kaylee's eyes, but with each sting of a lash, or hand, or boot, he was jostled back to the painful reality of his life. He groaned loudly when his bonds were cut and he fell in a pained heap to the cold, stone floor. A few more well placed strikes to his back and ribs left him gasping as they dragged him back to his cell.

"We'll go back, Kaylee." Mal said, clenching his jaw from an outburst he felt welling quickly in his chest. She'd asked non stop since they'd lifted off the planet where Simon had been taken and it was starting to grate on his already frayed nerves.

"When?"

Mal knew that she was worried, afraid that he wouldn't go back for Simon. He pushed the hurt that she would think him so uncaring to the back of his mind. Kaylee was scared on a level that he suspected she was most unaccustomed, and because of that –and because she was easily the light and heart of his boat and he didn't want to hurt her – he held his tongue.

He stopped, turned, and met her eyes. "We need intel. An' I mean to get it 'fore we go back there."

"What if its too late? It's takin' so long."

He could see Kaylee fight to keep control of her anger. He knew, from experience he'd prefer to forget, that it was sometimes easier to be angry, than to cry for something lost. Mal rested his hands on her shoulder and with as much certainty as he could force into his voice, said, "We'll get him back, mei mei. I promise you."

It was the one and only promise Malcolm Reynolds had ever made that he knew, with a certain unnerving finality, he would die to keep.

**- Day 4 -**

"What do they want with me?" Simon asked as he lay panting on the floor after yet another round of beatings. It was getting harder and harder to get up after each one. "They don't ask me questions."

"Weaken your prisoner before interrogating him," came the cryptic response.

"That's – helpful." Simon groaned as he pushed himself into a seated position and leaned back against the stone wall. The welts on his skin burned but contact with the cold stone was somewhat soothing.

"That's the truth of it."

"Lie to me once in a while, then." Simon winced as he touched a particularly sensitive rib.

There was no way Simon could see the smirk that spread across the other man's face. "You wouldn't want me to do that."

Simon had learned to hate his cell-mate's responses almost as much as he hated his captor's silence.

"Try me."

"Why'd you take off? Why'd you leave 'im?" Kaylee asked as she stood on the bridge, watching River input coordinates into Serenity's navigation controls.

"The needs of the many outweighed the needs of the one."

"He's your brother!" Kaylee had tinkered with everything possible since Simon had been taken. Inara and Mal had both assured her that they would go back from him, but she wanted to hear it from River herself.

River's fingers hovered over the nav controls as she hesitated, struggling with emotion she tried to contain for the greater good of the mission – and Mal's plan. "Yes. He is."

"Then why didn't you –"

River's head slowly swiveled toward Kaylee's and the younger girl's breath caught at the angry look in the mechanic's eyes.

"It's easier to mount a rescue if they think no one is coming for him." River's voice was steady, determined, but she knew it would break if Kaylee kept questioning her motives. Even knowing the Captain had a plan, it had been difficult to abandon her brother to an unknown fate. She could feel Kaylee's waning anger, and the older woman's desire to hold onto it. The longer they delayed, the greater the chance they wouldn't like what they found when they finally reached him.

Angry tears slipped out of Kaylee's eyes, dampening dirt-stained cheeks. It had been days. Days and nights filled with worry, regret and more than a little anger. She held her breath after asking, "When are we going for him?"

"Soon."

"Eat when they bring it," the man said when flavored water and bread was slid into the cell on a tray. "You notice there is no feeding schedule."

"They spill most of it," Simon muttered as he reached for the food. He'd tried starving himself for the first few days, but the lack of nutrition only served to weaken him quicker.

"Lick it off the tray."

Simon wrinkled his nose at the thought and he could hear his cell-mate chuckle deeply.

"How long have you been here?" Simon felt around in the darkness and broke the bread in half, intending to give it to the other man.

"Long enough."

He imagined the man holding out a large hand as he declined the offered food.

"I eat when they beat you."

**- Day 5 -**

Simon could feel his strength fading each time they deposited him into the dark cell. He knew several ribs were bruised badly, and he didn't even want to see the multi-colored bruises that he knew, just by sensitivity to touch, dotted his skin. He was cold and he trembled despite himself.

His fellow prisoner was silent, as he was most of the time when Simon returned from his 'interrogation'.

Simon felt himself drifting into an uneasy sleep just as the lights in the cell flashed on, blinding him momentarily. He flung his hands up to his eyes to cover them, as the light was so bright it pierced his closed lids.

But no sooner had the lights flashed on, did they disappear and Simon sank back against the wall, exhausted and concerned that he had still not been questioned.

"They will break you before they even begin to question you," came a soft voice from the corner of the room.

Simon's head lolled to one side as he regarded his cell-mate in the darkness. "I can't help them."

"What do you have that they can possibly want?"

Simon could hear the disbelieving tone in the other man's voice, and even in the dark, could picture his eyebrows raised and a smirk curling his lips at what the Alliance could possibly want with someone like him.

Simon thought about his answer for a long moment before responding. "Nothing. I literally have nothing." Nothing in the form of material things. But those, as he had learned over the last year, were not so important. He had his sister, Kaylee, his new family. They were more important than any material thing in the 'verse.

"Doubtful they'd believe you."

"I'm inclined to agree." Simon closed his eyes and tried once again to get some rest.

"Waiting on leads, Kaylee," Mal said for the hundredth time in the last few days. She'd taken to cornering him all over the ship and she'd done it again, this time in the common room. Except for the occasional meal, it was nearly the only time he saw her. And he needed her at her best, especially when they went back for Simon. She needed to keep her girl at optimum performance. Though he had not doubt that's where she'd been holed up since Simon had been taken. She always brooded in the engine room.

"You don't want 'im back, do you?" she accused, hands on her hips. She wanted to believe what he'd told her. He'd never lied to her, not really. But the more days that passed, the more faith she lost in her Captain. It was unreasonable, and she knew it, but she was scared and hurt and worried and she just couldn't bring herself to care about anything else.

"Think River wouldn't slit my neck in my sleep if I so much as thought that?"

Inara, who had been watching this exchange quietly until now, finally felt the need to speak up in Mal's defense. "Mei mei –" Inara tried to rest her hand on Kaylee's shoulder but she shrugged it away.

Blinking back angry, humiliating tears, Kaylee snapped, "Even Zoe an' Jayne are ready to bust some heads. Why are we waitin' so long!"

"My plans ain't exactly ever gone right. We gotta do this right or we aren't gettin' him back at all," Mal said, hoping it would be enough to deter the upset mechanic. He swallowed an angry retort about this being why he didn't like shipboard relationships. Kaylee had always been a smart, reasonable, young woman, and her _thing_ with the doc had only complicated matters. "We've gotta be careful here."

Kaylee took a deep breath, trying to force her mind to accept what they were telling her. She knew it was the right thing to do, be careful, wait and plan, but it had been so long and she was worried it would be too late. "Bein' careful's gonna get Simon killed."

"Kaylee, you're being irrational. Mal is doing everything he –"

"It ain't enough," she said sadly and left the room, before any of them could see the lone tear that slipped down her cheek.

Mal stared after her, sighing. "It never is."

**- Day 6 -**

Simon tried to push thoughts of her out of his mind. But every time he closed his eyes, he could feel her warm breath on his cheek, her soft lips flowering beneath his as they kissed. If his body ached from the beatings he had sustained, his heart ached with want of her.

He hoped she was safe, that Serenity had gone when he'd been captured. But he knew that hope was false. His sister, if no one else, would go to the ends of the 'verse looking for him. They were too close, had been through too much together, for her to do otherwise.

Simon groaned as he thought about River, how angry he imagined she'd be if she was forced to abandon searching for him. And Kaylee, the sweet mechanic, innocent in some ways, not so innocent in others, forced to say goodbye to another.

He remembered finding her wedged into the corner of her bunk, of the engine room, staring at nothing, after Book and Wash had died. Their deaths had sapped a little of the energetic girl's neverending cheerfulness and the thought of his death doing something similar made Simon's heart ache to the very core.

"Still breathing over there?"

The question made Simon tremble with pain and chill. "Just thinking."

"Don't tell them about her."

Simon tensed instantly, wondering what his cell-mate could be talking about. He hadn't mentioned River or Kaylee, or anyone else – that he could remember. _Had he been talking in his sleep?_ "What do you –"

"You're thinking about some lost love."

"H-how do you know that?" Simon struggled to control his sudden fear and he wrapped his arms around himself as another chill swept through his battered body.

"Been here a long time."

"I can't even see your face, how do you –"

"When one cannot see, the other senses become stronger."

That made perfect sense to Simon and he relaxed a bit more, still trembling from the cold. "Oh. Yes. I've heard that."

After a few moments of silence, the stranger asked, "Is she pretty?"

Simon knew the smile that spread across his face as he thought of Kaylee would have answered the question instantly were they not sitting in such a dark room.

"Beautiful." There was a wistfulness to his voice that was not lost on his cell-mate.

"I'll go after 'im on my own if the Cap'n won't do it, 'Nara. Prolly won't get far but, I can't take all this waitin' around." The swish of fabric clearly indicated who had walked into the room and Kaylee didn't bother to look behind her while she tinkered with something in Shuttle Two.

"Give him some time, Kaylee," Inara pleaded, her eyes darting around the space at the mess Kaylee had made. She wanted to think that she knew how she would react if something like this happened to the man she loved – had a new, physical relationship with, but she couldn't lie to herself. She would probably feel just as upset and helpless as Kaylee felt now.

The tool Kaylee held fell to the floor with a loud clang as the young mechanic whirled on her friend. "An' let them hurt him more?"

Inara opened her mouth to speak but Kaylee plowed on. "I can't sit here an' do nothing!"

Inara could hear the desperation in Kaylee's voice, the fear that when they got to Simon it would be too late. It had replaced nearly all the anger, despite how valiantly Kaylee was trying to cling to it. "We're landing tomorrow, Kaylee. Mal has a lead. They'll get him back."

Hope lit Kaylee's eyes for the first time in days. "I'm goin' with 'em."

Inara didn't have the heart to tell the girl that Mal had expressly forbidden it.

**- Day 7 -**

Simon's eyes crossed as he tried to sit up, but the fire that rushed through his veins as he made the attempt forced him to reconsider the motion. He groaned, whispering his sister's name, as he rested his forehead against the cold stone floor.

"Still no questioning?"

Simon shook his head, trying to clear the foggy haze that had taken up permanent residence. "I don't understand it."

"When they break your body, your mind will quickly follow."

Simon shifted position so that he could at least look in his cell-mate's direction without craning his already bruised neck. "Remind me to ask you how you know this when I have regained the mental capacity to fully understand the explanation."

The man's lips thinned into a small smile that Simon could not see. "It is unusual that they seem to want to continue with the question-less interrogations."

"It can't be too amusing to see my head bounce off the stone floor day after day." Simon said dryly, groaning as he tried yet again to sit up.

A deep chuckle was the only response for a moment. "They haven't broken you, yet. You've still got a sense of humor."

Simon groaned in response and closed his eyes, taking deep breaths to try and will away the pain. The gashes in his back and chest felt infected, and that would turn very dangerous if he didn't get medical help soon. Lost in a diagnosis of his lengthy list of injuries, Simon almost missed his cell-mate's next question.

"Who is she?"

Simon's eyes snapped open and his breath caught for a moment. His voice shook as he asked, "Who?"

Simon could hear the man's voice question as her name rolled off his tongue. "River."

Simon swallowed thickly, not realizing he'd said her name aloud, and thought for a long, long moment, before whispering, "My sister."

River was standing on the ramp as it lowered, her eyes darting around the landscape for any surprises. There was no Alliance presence here, but that didn't keep her from worrying that something might go wrong. Her hands clenched and unclenched and her stance betrayed her readiness to get moving; to retrieve her brother. They had waited long enough.

They weren't close. Not yet. But they were close enough to get the information required to free him. It had come at a high price, but what didn't when one wanted access codes to a secure Alliance facility.

"No, and that's final."

River didn't bother to turn around. She knew the voices. There wasn't anyone on the crew who would let Kaylee accompany them on this mission, even if she wasn't emotionally involved with the man they were trying to rescue.

"It ain't fair!"

"There's a lot of go se in this 'verse that ain't fair, lil' Kaylee. This is just one in a long ass string of them." Mal continued his journey across the catwalk above, glancing briefly down at River as he moved.

"I wanna go with you." Kaylee followed on his heels, her much shorter legs skipping down the steps and keeping stride with the Captain.

"No." Mal turned around and addressed her directly. "Don't go askin' again. It'll be the same answer."

River turned then, as Zoe and Jayne approached from opposite directions, their weapons strapped and ready, and touched Kaylee's arm. "Need to wait here. Have to keep the ship ready so we can take off as soon as we get back."

"Promise me you'll get what you need." Kaylee's eyes pleaded with River's for reassurance.

"We'll get it," River said, forcing herself to push out the words. It wasn't a lie. They would get all the intel they needed to infiltrate that place. And they would bring Simon back; alive or dead.

**- Day 8 -**

"I know this' been hard, lil' Albatross," Mal said, standing behind the pilot's chair. He stared down at the top of the girl's dark haired head before glancing out into the field before them. They'd gotten the intel they needed from a grungy old man who'd once worked in the underground holding facility and were now preparing to take the shuttle closer to that facility. They'd all agreed not to tell Kaylee what the place was commonly used for.

"More than you'll ever know, Captain," River answered, her eyes never leaving the controls.

Mal heaved a great sigh. "Thank you for trusting me."

"Always supposed to trust the Captain."

Mal grinned wryly. "Tell that to the rest of the crew."

"Kaylee's afraid. Doesn't know who to blame, who to be angry at. She's sorry for not trusting you, but she's scared – I'm scared too."

Mal hesitated for a moment, letting River's words sink in. He needed to get something off his chest but was unsure of how to do it. No doubt the psychic could already read it from his mind, but she always wanted him to speak instead. "River –"

The girl lifted her eyes and stared out into the black, her hands clenched tightly together in her lap. "If he dies, the blame won't fall on just your shoulders."

The man leaned forward, hands on his knees, as Simon spoke. The tale was certainly interesting enough but the man couldn't be certain how much was truth and how much was fabricated in the young man's fevered delirium. Tales of Alliance corruption had existed since the government was formed. It really wasn't all that unusual. But the young doctor, as the other prisoner had learned not long ago, was well spoken, educated and didn't really seem the type to lie about such events; which made the man regret Simon's deteriorating condition even more.

That condition had worsened overnight and it was clear to the cell-mate that if he didn't get medical attention soon, the younger man could easily die from his injuries.

Simon's teeth chattered as he spoke, and the other man crept closer to listen to the weakening voice.

"Tell me more," the older man prompted, hoping to keep the boy awake and talking. Asleep, he could fall into a coma from which he might not wake. It was astonishing that the younger man had remained awake through all of his _questioning_ thus far.

"There is nothing – else to say," Simon breathed.

"Your sister is – normal now?" There was confusion laced with a bit of awe in the man's voice.

Simon coughed and the man could detect a bit of sarcasm in the younger man's voice when he finally spoke. "As sane as anyone who has had their amygdala stripped and her brain experimented on."

"And she's the ship's pilot?"

"As good as Wash." If Simon regretted the words, in his feverish state, it didn't show.

A small smile spread across Simon's face. "And Kaylee, she's –" He trailed off, his eyes fluttering closed as if wanting to burn the image of his beautiful lady into his mind..

"She . . . ?" the other man prompted.

When the other prisoner received no answer, he moved to Simon's side and gently pulled the younger man's torso into his lap. It was the first time the man had touched him, come out of his corner. But Simon wasn't looking at him, couldn't see his state of dress. The damp, clammy skin, told the other man all he needed to know and a hand flattened on Simon's forehead simply confirmed it.

"Tell me about her," the other man prompted and he leaned down when he felt Simon breathe her name.

"She's got a smile that can light up the verse. Her eyes are so beautiful and open and – " Simon fell silent again, clearly remembering the beautiful girl whom he'd just described. "And I love her." Simon exhaled deeply and his head lolled against the other man's chest for a moment before he weakly gripped the other man's hand. "Tell her, please. If they come – if it's too late."

The man pursed his lips and stared down into Simon's open eyes. It was clear he didn't truly see the man that held him, but he nodded anyway. "I will make sure she knows."

The door opened and Simon didn't even have the energy to groan at the anticipated pain to come.

"Let him be today," the other prisoner said to guards neither of them could see.

Simon was too delirious to register the man's words and the fact that those guards listened to him without so much as another word exchanged.

**- Day 9 -**

Simon was too ill to wonder why the person holding him was clothed when he was bare to the waist. Even with the rough fabric of the man's shirt pressing against his bare arms, there was little to no warmth seeping into his body.

Medical instinct kicked in and Simon knew that if he didn't already have pneumonia from his lack of nutritional care, the beatings weakening his immune system, and the cold he'd been forced to reside in, that it was something medically worse.

Simon's mind was cloudy **but the chills that swept through his body, and the pain with each cough, told him if he didn't **get out of here, there was no way he would live to withstand any interrogation. Not that he would have any valuable information for them anyway.

"Tell them what they want to know. Maybe they'll let you go."

The voice sounded foreign to his ears but Simon didn't have the energy to speak. He burrowed his face against the stranger's arms, hoping to find solace and warmth there.

The other man stared down at Simon, wondering if perhaps there really was no more to tell.

"Did you?" Simon asked moments later drawing the man from his own thoughts.

"Did I what?"

"Tell them?" Simon's voice was weak, but the man still heard the question.

A lopsided grin that Simon clearly did not see crossed his face. "I'm still here, aren't I?"

Simon groaned, unsure if that was a good thing or a bad thing, considering his own unusual situation. "That's isn't much comfort."

"I didn't think it would be."

"I'm ready to bust some heads," Jayne stalked from one end of the cargo bay to the other as everyone joined him. They'd scouted out the best way to get into and out of the facility and it was time to put their plan into motion. The Captain was being uncharacteristically cautious this time and it unnerved Jayne something fierce.

"Bust some for me," Kaylee said as she walked into the bay from the direction of the passenger dorms. She looked at Zoe and pressed an item into the older woman's hand. "If you need it."

Zoe didn't look down, simply nodded. She knew what the syringe contained.

"Not comin'?" Jayne stared at Kaylee, for the first time noting her pale features and her dull eyes. Girl was a mess and he didn't like to see it. Was all manner of unnatural. If getting that prissy doc back put a smile on her face, then he'd do it.

"Ain't goin'. Would only slow ya down." Kaylee stepped back as Inara appeared behind her to rest comforting hands on tense shoulders. She wanted to go – badly. But she knew she wouldn't lend a bit of aid. Not being able to shoot, or scout, nothing Jayne, Zoe, the Captain and even River could contribute to this rescue mission. It was hard, hard to be left behind. As Mal approached and kissed her cheek, she clung to him for a moment and whispered, "Please bring him back."

"I will, mei mei," Mal declared as he checked his gun one more time and then led the others off the ship.

"You know they've probably got recording devices in here," the man glanced around the room and then back down at Simon.

"Guess they interrogated me after all then, huh?" Simon's voice was weak, but the man could make out the wry smile that split the doctor's chapped lips.

"Your story is really quite – unbelievable."

"Boring, huh?" Simon breathed, his lips turning up into a self deprecating grin. "Told you my life wouldn't interest them."

"If it's all true," the man prompted, clearly hoping to hear more.

"I may be smart, but I'm not stupid enough to fabricate such a story." Simon groaned as he tried to raise his head.

"No," the man glanced off into the dark distance and sighed. "I don't believe you are." he knew from experience, the Alliance had its secrets and he had no doubt they had ended the lives of a great many to keep this one.

If Simon could have seen his cell-mate's face, he'd have wondered why the man seemed to be wearing a look of intense regret.

**- Day 10 - Early -**

"If they come for me, tell them that I'm sorry." Simon's weak voice cracked after being silent for countless hours.

The man had made a decision in those hours; one that would change the course of his service. "I won't let you die in here, boy."

Simon started at the determination in the man's tone and his senses tingled at the firm familiarity of the man's voice. He struggled to blink away the haze enough to get a better look, but it was too dark and his vision too clouded.

Simon's much larger cell-mate hefted the younger and lighter man into his arms, amidst a bout of unhealthy coughing and groaning.

"Who are – " Simon's voice trailed away when the stone door slid open, revealing a very dimly lit corridor behind it and a very stone-faced Captain Malcolm Reynolds.

If anyone could have seen the smile on the prisoner's face, they'd have known that he'd been expecting the rescue.

"Who are you?" Mal leveled his gun at Simon's cell-mate as Zoe and Jayne hurried in behind him, gingerly taking Simon out of the bigger man's arms.

"No one of importance." The dark-skinned man raised his arms and made no move to exit the room.

Simon's head swam with dizziness and his stomach churned with nausea but his eyes widened when he noticed a familiar face, and heard Jayne's all-too-familiar grousing about moonbrain and women as he stepped back out of the cell to make sure the coast was clear.

Zoe held his head tenderly and without a word, injected Simon with the painkiller that Kaylee had given to her. If she looked surprised at the wounds that covered his pale skin, she gave no indication.

Simon tried to speak but Zoe shushed him with a warm finger to his lips. "Quiet now. We need to get you out of here."

"I believe I know the way," the prisoner ducked his head and entered the corridor. Glancing back, he motioned for them to follow. "The guards will be changing shifts right about now." He smiled knowingly at Mal, "but I believe you already knew that."

Mal smirked his response and leveled his gun around the nearest corner before motioning Zoe and Jayne to follow with Simon. River, he knew, was silently taking care of anyone they might encounter despite her desire to be first on the scene when they found her brother.

Mal's eyes narrowed when he turned around and got a better look at Simon's cell-mate.

"You're a Shepherd?"

The man inclined his head respectfully. "Indeed I am."

"Other than the knowin' duds, you don't look like one."

"I haven't always been a Shepherd, Captain Reynolds."

Mal eyed him skeptically for a long moment, recalling those words coming out of another man's mouth once upon a time. He didn't bother to question how the man knew his name, figuring, instead, that Simon had spoken about him. He'd chastise the boy later.

The dark-skinned man glanced back at Jayne, carrying a very non-responsive Simon. "He needs medical attention – badly."

Mal's eyes swept down Simon's bruised and bloody body. "I'm noticin'."

"If you've got medical facilities –"

"We do," Mal's eyes shifted suspiciously toward the Shepherd before a small smile tugged at one end of his mouth. "But I'm guessin' you already know that." Familiarity tugged at the back of the Captain's mind, but he pushed it away in favor of getting out of this facility before they were discovered.

"Let me help him?" The Shepherd owed Simon for the torture he'd endured. His eyes pleaded expertly with Mal, knowing the kind of man he was simply by what little information he had gleaned about the man from Simon. And he needed to know what had truly happened on Miranda, and the events directly preceding it; if Simon had been telling the truth, or lying. "I have some training in the medical field."

Mal hesitated only a moment, knowing that a decision would have to be made quickly. He glanced at Simon again and winced. Torture, he was intimately familiar with. Knew how it felt, how it could break a man. And as strong as the doc was, The Captain didn't figure his body could take the strain he knew the Alliance could inflict. He nodded almost imperceptively. "What's a Shepherd doin' in that cell?"

The man's lips twisted into a brief smile as he caught the Captain's small nod. "That is a very long story."

"We get out of here," Mal glanced around a corner as they began to move. "You'll have plenty of time to tell it."

END

EPILOGUE

They made it out without too much trouble, Mal wondering all the while how a simple Shepherd knew the way out of this detention facility. It had been a maze of corridors and cells, of foul-smelling rooms that Mal was grateful Simon had been too unconscious to see. This wasn't a normal Alliance facility. This was one they kept secret, didn't acknowledge its existence. Political prisoners entered this place, were tortured horribly for information – and then never left again.

"The Geneva Convention doesn't exist here," River said simply as she approached on light feet. She ignored the confused looks her comment generated and pursed her lips together.

They met her near where they'd entered the facility and she paused briefly to touch her brother's bruised face for a moment. Her eyes scanned him but her expression remained impassive as she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. She looked instantly toward the Shepherd, her eyes boring into him, through him, before moving ahead to lead them back to the ship.

The Shepherd's mouth twisted into a wry smile as his eyes fell on the waif-like girl ahead of them. So this was their big secret. This girl. Part of a secret project gone wrong that he had been recruited to fix.

When they reached the ship, Kaylee and Inara greeted them at the ramp. The anxiety on both women's faces grew when their eyes fell on the unconscious Simon.

"Let him work," Mal said as they pushed by the women and went directly to the infirmary, Mal standing tensely behind the Shepherd, watching his every move. He remembered all too clearly the last time he'd taken a man of the cloth onboard his ship. Every passenger had a story – and it usually wasn't a dull one – so Mal remained tense, cautious.

Mal fixed his eyes on the scene before him as the Shepherd tended to Simon's injuries with the precision of a trained doctor. Zoe assisted, cleaning the infected lash marks while the preacher attended to sewing closed the deepest ones, and binding ribs and other badly bruised limbs.

Kaylee stood back, anxiously bouncing on the balls of her feet and waiting for permission to come closer. Inara tried to calm the mechanic but nothing did much good.

River had returned to the bridge to get them off world before the facility was alerted to its missing inmates. Mal and Jayne stood on either side of the door, fingering their weapons, Jayne unblinking as he stared at the Shepherd.

"I don't think we got your name," Mal said when the man finally stepped away and Kaylee moved in to take his place at Simon's side.

He glanced down at the young woman, guessing her to be the beauty from Simon's delirious tales. It was clear she cared for him in the way she rested her cheek gently against his, whispered words for his ear only, clutched his fingers desperately, but carefully, in her own. The preacher nodded, knowing that Simon had not lied about the young woman and the man predicted he hadn't lied about the rest of his story either.

With a deep breath and a resigned smile, the man said, "The name's Book."

Three sets of guns cocked instantly in his direction, and Kaylee's eyes shot up from where she had been intently studying an unconscious Simon's face.

"What did you say?" Kaylee asked, her brows knitting together in confusion. His voice _was_ oddly familiar.

The man didn't look at all surprised and raised his hands, knowing that this would be the outcome of his revelation. "I see the name is known to you."

"You could say that," Mal snapped, his eyes narrowing.

"I think you've got some explainin' to do," Zoe said, her finger hovering over the trigger of her shotgun.

"An' you better start talkin'," Jayne sneered, his own gun aimed at the dark-skinned man.

A slow nod later, the Shepherd began. "My brother and I took the oath together, but it was simply a cover – for a time, a cover for the work we had been specifically requested to complete for Parliament."

"You're a Fed?" Jayne asked incredulously, his finger tightening on Vera's trigger.

"You're a plant," Zoe said. It was not a question.

"You weren't – the Shepherd, he was –." Kaylee stopped, her mind whirling with the unexpected revelations.

The man nodded slowly and confirmed. "I was not a prisoner."

"What kinda work?" Mal demanded, his jaw set.

Three sets of eyes darted toward Mal before settling on their newest passenger, waiting for an explanation – one that would save or condemn him.

"Detain Simon Tam and return his sister to the government school from where he'd kidnapped her."

All eyes turned to River, who stood motionless in the doorway, her body tense but on her face was a hint of a smile.

The Shepherd nodded. "Yes. That was our mission. My – brother failed."

With a quick glance between River and her brother, Mal tightened fingers around his pistol. "An' so will you."

END


End file.
